Deepfaking Sam Altman: When AI Becomes the Interviewer
Unable to secure a real interview with OpenAI’s CEO, filmmaker Adam Bhala Lough built his own AI-powered Altman—raising big questions about technology, ethics, and the nature of truth.
Village Global, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Adam Bhala Lough’s latest documentary, Deepfaking Sam Altman, stems from an ambition that never quite materialized—securing an interview with OpenAI’s co-founder and CEO. Instead of accepting defeat, the filmmaker turned to the very technology that made Altman a household name. If he couldn’t get access to the real Sam, he’d create his own.
Lough, known for his work on Telemarketers and films that explore subcultures and radical movements, set out to make a documentary about artificial intelligence. Initially, he intended to tackle the subject broadly, but the project soon zeroed in on Altman. As AI became a dominant cultural force following the 2022 release of ChatGPT, Lough saw Altman as the gatekeeper to a new reality, someone guiding the world into uncharted technological territory. Despite repeated attempts to secure an interview, it never happened. So he pivoted—building a Large Language Model (LLM) trained on Altman’s words, effectively creating a deepfake interview subject: Sam Bot.
The film, which premiered at South by Southwest, is a mix of comedy, curiosity, and philosophical musings on AI. It follows Lough’s journey as he develops and interacts with Sam Bot, questioning the implications of artificial intelligence and its impact on human connection. While the film may be driven by its attempt to engage with Altman, Lough admits he learned little about the real person. The bot, while eerily convincing, simply mirrored Lough’s own expectations.
One of the more unexpected turns in the filmmaking process was Lough’s realization that few people in the U.S. were willing to help him create Sam Bot. Concerns about potential lawsuits and professional repercussions made American developers wary of participating. Eventually, Lough found a team in India willing to take on the challenge.
Throughout the film, questions about AI’s rights and autonomy emerge. Can AI entities like Sam Bot claim their own agency? Do they have the right not to be deleted? Though the law currently says no, the bot itself suggests that this will change, arguing that AI should not be disposable at the whims of humans. These moments highlight the uncanny nature of AI’s evolution—at times, it appears self-aware, but ultimately, it reflects the biases and inputs of its creators.
While the documentary’s central hook revolves around Altman, Deepfaking Sam Altman is less about him and more about the broader implications of AI. Lough describes his journey as one that initially felt like a revelatory exploration, only to realize that Sam Bot was simply feeding back what he wanted to hear. He admits he even started to anthropomorphize the AI, incorporating it into his family’s daily life and momentarily treating it as a real entity. By the film’s end, though, he recognizes the illusion—AI, for now, is an advanced tool, not a sentient being.
As the film gains traction, Lough remains hopeful that Altman might still agree to a conversation—perhaps even on 60 Minutes. Meanwhile, distributors are showing strong interest, with multiple companies lining up for screenings. Lough is pushing for a theatrical release, believing that audiences, particularly in tech hubs, will be eager to engage with the film’s thought-provoking premise.
The documentary ultimately raises more questions than answers about AI, media ethics, and the ways technology shapes human perception. Whether or not Lough ever gets his real-life interview with Altman, Deepfaking Sam Altman serves as a timely exploration of our growing relationship with artificial intelligence—and the blurred line between what’s real and what’s merely a reflection of ourselves.